Marilyn Monroe is back on the cover of Playboy magazine to coincide with the 50th anniversary of her death. Playboy is dedicating its latest issue to the iconic actress.

Marilyn will grace the cover of December’s edition just like in 1953 when she became Playboy’s first cover girl.

“For the first issue [Hugh Hefner] wanted to do a 3-D issue with glasses, but couldn’t afford it, so he opted for outtakes of a nude shoot with a little known actress,” says Jimmy Jellinek, Playboy’s Editorial Director.

Inside December’s edition will be an exclusive selection of Marilyn Monroe photographs from the archives of Hugh Hefner’s magazine. The collection spans her career from the early years through just days before she died in 1962 aged 36.

It took six months to browse through the magazine’s collection of over 10 million photographs to make a selection for the issue, Jellinek said.

“This is the first time we've shown the totality of our collection, from the beginning to almost days before the end of her life. It showcases the arc of her life,” Jimmy Jellinek is quoted by the Daily Mail as saying. “She helped elevate nude photography into a higher art form,” he added.

Apart from the photographs the issue will also feature editorials by Roger Ebert and Kim Morgan, recollections from Playboy Publisher Hugh Hefner, and an excerpt by novelist John Updike, the Daily Mail says.

Fifty years ago in August 1962 Monroe born Norma Jeane Mortenson was found dead at her home in Los Angeles, California. She was lying naked on her bed next to a bottle of pills after what is believed to be suicide. Once married to Baseball legend Joe DiMaggio and writer Arthur Miller, Monroe was named the Sexiest Woman of the Century by People Magazine.

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